Another case of the fandom and the mainstream media crossing paths. This time, I unwittingly played a part, as someone who hung out [and discussed the fandom at length] with the incognito journalist who wrote the article. (See my post in the LJ discussion for details.)

I'm not yet sure what to make of the article, and so would like to ask the eagle eyes here for their thoughts.

well dont dig yourself a shallow grave because how did you no the she was a under cover reporter and she kept hoping to dish up some dirt on that convention but why would a person want to lie about a social event when the atendees had nothing to do with her?

I understand where you're coming from. I would hate to be deceived by someone,who you to believe was a furry. The article was alright, at least it wasn't furry bashing to a point. I am lucky, because where I live no one seems to know much or anything about furries. Everyone I tell about it seems to be cool with it. Even when I told my oldest brother and his wife(who are christians) they were alright about it. I first told them about the negative media, then I told them about how much fun it is. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to write a book, but I hate any bad publicity about furries and it burns me up. Think positive thoughts and positive things will happen. That's my motto.

Ok, the opening was very bad, and looked like she was going to do a hatchet job.

However, since she takes the time to actually interact with furries, she got a more
accurate picture-which she actually decided to report. (Which is a nice change.)

"I don't see why. I've seen much weirder stuff at sci-fi and comic cons than anything here."

"May as well have gone to a Catholic school Halloween party. The dance starts in half an hour. Maybe something will happen there."

"When I heard the strains of "Hungry Like The Wolf" emanating from the ballroom, I walked in to see a little toddler girl dancing with someone in a bunny suit. A minute later the girl abandoned the bunny to pull a cartoon fox onto the dance floor. She got more excited each time a new animal entered the room (good thing the mutant rabbit had left).

One man leaning against the wall surveyed the scene with a proud expression. "She's definitely my daughter," he smiled at me. "Look how much fun she's having."

"Of course," I said. "She's in a roomful of giant stuffed animals all come to life and dancing with her."

"You know," her father said reflectively, "I haven't been to a con since Anthrocon [another Furry gathering] a few years ago. These are the only people I trust. There's definitely a friendly vibe here."

"But what about the sex vibes I'd hoped to find? If I'd peeked behind every hotel-room door I probably would've found something, but that's true at any gathering of hundreds of people far from home. The Furry convention wasn't a sex thing but the exact opposite: an innocent world of children's-book animals, where a 3-year-old can roam with impunity and a maladjusted kid can enter the room with nobody leaving."

Maybe in another 20 years, this will be the norm.
I can dream, anyway.

The opening bothered me, too. She eventually contradicted that false impression, but there's still that element of defining us by what we are not.

It's notable that the reporter has previously delved into rather salacious territory (her first major piece for the Advocate was titled For A Good Time Call Jennifer: My Brief Career As A Phone Sex Worker), and perhaps the expectation was what led her to attend in the first place---as well as explaining her "disappointment" when what she saw did not live up to that.

The general consensus seems to be that the article is a net positive, modulo the introductory section. There is also an interesting comment in the LJ discussion to the effect that, in some ways, a reporter working undercover is a good thing (compared to the usual pairing of Kage + cameras).

While I'm not beating myself up over this, and I don't regret anything in the way of my comportment with her, I'm feeling a little better about my involvement. Maybe it was for the best.